Birmingham City Council is close to concluding its second multi-million pound land deal with supermarket giant Tesco within the space of two months.

Councillors will shortly approve the sale of 1.7 acres of playing fields off Brockhurst Road, Hodge Hill - the first step towards enabling a 65,000 square feet Tesco superstore to be built on the site.

A decision to sell the land and the likely granting of planning permission would mark the final defeat for local residents who have campaigned for 15 years to save the playing fields.

Last month, the council sold part of the Swan Shopping centre at Sheldon and adjoining land to Tesco.

The company has been given a four-year deadline to obtain planning permission and build a superstore.

The council has not publicly released details of the amount of money it expects to make from the two land sales, but the total sum will amount to several million pounds.

At the same time, the council has established a working party to investigate the nature of land holdings in Birmingham by the big three supermarket firms - Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda. The inquiry will consider whether some areas are in danger of being dominated by any one of the three, according to deputy council leader Paul Tilsley.

The investigation will almost certainly be too late for the Hodge Hill and Ward End Residents' Associations, which have mounted a long campaign against the Brockhurst Road Tesco scheme.

Roger Gordon, a spokesman for the residents' associations, said Tesco's arrival would decimate the smaller supermarkets and independent retailers, bring traffic chaos, noise and pollution to a residential suburb. He accused the council of "double standards", by mounting an inquiry into supermarket power while at the same time profiting from land sales to Tesco.

Mr Gordon added: "At a time when Britain is preparing for the World Cup and to host the Olympic Games in London, and when Birmingham is inviting overseas teams to train here in the run-up to 2012, the potential loss of such valuable green space is a betrayal of the nation's sporting heritage.

"But it's not just the issue of the playing fields. We are also concerned about the congestion on already crowded roads that will result from the opening of a superstore on this site."

Almost 20 per cent of the playing fields will be swallowed up by the scheme, leaving Hodge Hill with 0.8 hectares of recreational space per 1,000 population against a standard in the Birmingham Unitary Develop-ment plan of 1.2 hectares.

Mr Gordon added: "Noting the referral of the grocery market to the Competition Commission, the council should defer consideration of any planning application on the Brockhurst Road site until this inquiry is complete."